The Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia (GOSECA)
at the University of Pittsburgh
presents its
Tenth Annual Graduate Conference:

“Threats: Perception and Reality”

In recent years “threats,” real or perceived, have captured the attention of experts in various fields of scholarship and policy-making. From fear of “the other” to geopolitical security concerns, “threats” help determine individual and collective identities, institutional organization, and the patterns of everyday life in Europe and the former Soviet Union in the 20th and 21st centuries. How, why, and to what effect are “threats” presented in academic discourse, cultural production, international relations, and domestic politics? What subjective and objective criteria are used to judge groups, individuals, ideas, or practices as “threatening?” What are the bases of these threats, and how are they articulated? What is the impact of “threats” on power relations, social hierarchies, and access to political, economic, and socio-cultural resources?

This conference engages with the construction of “threats,” the understanding of danger, and possible responses to them in this region in the present and recent past. It addresses the influence of politicians, the military, artists, writers, businessmen, the media, and other social actors in generating and shaping awareness of “threats.” Papers can also identify examples of reactions to threats, including attempts to neutralize, purge, counteract, and/or overcome threats to various communities.

We welcome comparative and/or interdisciplinary approaches, and strongly encourage submissions from a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities. Topics might address any of the following:
- Literary and cultural studies
- Medicine and public health
- Military and security studies
- Human rights advocacy
- Public policy & Law
- History
- International affairs
- Anthropology
- Political science
- Environmental studies
- Economics
- Your discipline here!

Please submit a 300-word-abstract and a two-page CV to goseca.pitt@gmail.com no later than December 3, 2012.
The conference is open to all current graduate and professional students and those who have completed their programs within the past year. All applicants will be informed about their admission status and further procedures by December 15. Please note that papers will be pre-circulated among conference participants.

The conference will take place from February 22 - 24, 2013. The event will be hosted on the University of Pittsburgh campus.

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